16/06/2026
The Government Acts on Social Media Harm But Children’s Wireless Radiation Exposure Remains Ignored
The UK Government is finally recognising that unlimited social media access can harm children.
The EM Radiation Research Trust (RRT) welcomes serious efforts to address online harms, including addictive algorithms, cyberbullying, harmful content, online exploitation, and sleep disruption.
This follows the Government's landmark announcement on social media restrictions for under-16s, aimed at "giving kids their childhood back":
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/social-media-to-be-banned-for-under-16s-in-landmark-government-move-to-givekids-their-childhood-back
However, while policy attention is focused on the psychological and behavioural impacts of social media, a very important issue remains largely absent from public debate: children's lifelong exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from smartphones, tablets, Wi-Fi networks, wireless wearables, and telecommunications infrastructure.
As we reflected in our recent tribute marking the 11th anniversary of Jenny Fry's death, children's wellbeing can be affected by multiple aspects of the digital environment. Jenny's family reported that she suffered from electrohypersensitivity (EHS).
Read Jenny's story:
https://radiationresearch.org/11-years-on-remembering-jenny-fry-and-the-duty-to-protect-children-in-a-wireless-world/
Children are not simply small adults. Research discussed in the IARC Monograph on Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields has reported higher absorption levels in certain tissues and organs in children than adults. Further information, including evidence that children may absorb up to 10 times more radiofrequency radiation in certain tissues, can be found here:
https://radiationresearch.org/up-to-10x-more-radiation-are-our-children-the-unseen-victims-of-wireless-technology/
As policymakers consider measures to reduce online harms, the EM Radiation Research Trust believes urgent attention must also be given to reducing unnecessary wireless radiation exposures and applying the Precautionary Principle, to protect current and future generations and the environment as a whole.
The EM Radiation Research Trust has written to the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP, as well as senior government ministers and officials, setting out these concerns and urging urgent consideration of the public health implications alongside digital policy. In our letter, we call for:
We therefore urge policymakers to ensure that:
1) Public health considerations relating to exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields.
2) Privacy, data security, and safeguards against misuse or unauthorised surveillance.
3) Equality of access, including accommodations for vulnerable individuals.
4) The importance of maintaining parental responsibility for children’s access to technology, consistent with established approaches to alcohol, to***co, and other age-restricted products, rather than unnecessary substitution of parental authority by centralised state control. Government policy should support parental authority rather than replace it.
5) The need to ensure that public health policy reflects the scientific evidence base on radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, including independent research reporting biological effects at exposure levels below current international guidelines, and consideration of more precautionary exposure limits proposed in peer-reviewed scientific literature and international research.
Call to Action
We encourage our followers and supporters to take action by downloading our letter and/or report and sending it directly to their own Member of Parliament.
Your voice matters. Personal correspondence from constituents is one of the most effective ways to ensure these issues are properly considered at Government level.
👉 Read, download, and share here:
https://radiationresearch.org/rrt-statement-on-social-media-restrictions-for-under-16s-and-wider-digital-policy-developments/
Together, we can ensure that children’s health, safety, and long-term wellbeing remain at the heart of public policy.